Contact Forces
Every time you push a door, kick a football, or feel the wind against your face, you're experiencing contact forces. These forces only work when two objects are physically touching each other.
Tension is the pulling force you feel in a rope or string - think about a game of tug of war where the rope stretches tight. Friction happens when two surfaces slide against each other, like car tyres gripping the road or your shoes on the pavement.
When objects move through air, they experience air resistance - this is why parachutes work so well to slow people down. Upthrust is the upward force that keeps ships floating on water, whilst thrust is the driving force that pushes cars and aeroplanes forward.
The normal reaction force is nature's way of supporting objects - when you place a book on a table, the table pushes back up with exactly the right force to keep the book from falling through. Remember that weight equals mass times gravity W=m×g, which helps you calculate how much force gravity pulls with.
Quick Tip: Contact forces always require physical touch between objects - no touching, no contact force!